About the Song

Track: Born and Raised

Length: 4:45

Album: Born and Raised (2012)

Artist: John Mayer

Songwriter: John Mayer

Favorite part:

“Then all at once it gets hard to take

It gets hard to fake what I won’t be

‘Cause one of these days I’ll be born and raised

And it’s such a waste to grow up lonely”

℗ 2012 Columbia Records, a Division of Sony Music Entertainment

Here’s Why I Love It

This is both my favorite song (and album) of Mayer’s catalogue. I realize there are many who prefer the poppy-lovey-dovey Mayer (who I also enjoy at times), but this song hits me right between the eyes, and in a way the rest of his stuff just doesn’t. This track bleeds. The song’s power source feels more internal than external, and in return, we get rewarded. Plus, there’s some sweet-ass harmonica instrumentals.

It’s really the third line of the song—“I cheat the light to check my face”—that quakes me each time I hear it. The lyric balances ambiguity and clarity in such a powerful way (which is the hallmark of great writing for me). He’s referencing the mirror we look ourselves in every day, and how that mirror gets harder and harder to look at as the years pass. So we “dim the light” to avoid seeing the person we are or have become. This metaphor is pure, real, and worth the listen alone.

The song is about the pain of growth, change, and most importantly, not being able to lie to yourself anymore (as the chorus above indicates). And maybe worse, it’s about not having anyone to share success or failure with because you’ve never made that commitment. This all becomes painfully true with age. The naivete of youth has finally started to run its course, and even “dreams, they’re not the same.” Friends and family dynamics change. Interests change. Life just changes. Or, as Mayer warns with the last line in this song, “It all comes on without warning.”

Listen to the song and read the lyrics for full effect.

You can now listen to the Lyrics I Love playlist on Spotify. A new song is added with each edition!

*This article is part of the ongoing Lyrics I Love series: short interpretations of the meaning and story behind one song with lyrics that move me.

**Here’s a cool video of Mayer shredding a version of “All Along the Watchtower.”